Indiana Pacers Season Preview
The Pacers have other things on their mind besides winning ballgames.
The Indiana Pacers are engaged in not just a rebuilding effort, but a redefining effort.
Basketball is business. And the moves and direction the Pacers have made and are going clearly demonstrate that this season, the Pacers are all about selling tickets and putting out a team that -whether it is a winner or not- is competitive enough to be well received by their fans and get the team back to profitability.
With a starting rotation that features little star power (other than an unhappy Jermaine O’Neal), the focus will be on ‘hustle’, fundamentals and teamwork and less on individual achievement. With guys like Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and Travis Diener, this is no surprise. They fit the mold of the hustling, fundamentally sound team guy. The mold that the Pacers want their fans to perceive the team in.
Interestingly enough, the Pacers have crafted their marketing campaign based on the same principles. One wonders if the campaign is based on the make up and talent disposition of the team, or if the team was assembled with an eye towards a particular marketing campaign.
With that in mind, the Pacers are developing their marketing with coach Jim O’Brien as the central figure. And not the players. One of the main poster ads is simply O’Brien standing next Larry Bird.
Clearly, after some of the on court and off court incidents that the Pacers have dealt with the past few years, there is a need to re-establish their relationship with their fan base. And, just as clearly, the team’s marketing strategy, roster and coaching moves exemplify who makes up the fan base to which the organization is trying to appeal.
The possibility that a team can effectively build itself around a marketing principle aimed at redefining the team, while at the same time field a winning team is not great. Particularly when the concept is to try to fit the character of the team to the market’s ‘values’.
But, cutting past it all, the motivation for the Pacers new direction and new image is easily discernible.
Part of the shift, Tom Hirschauer (president of the Pacers’ ad agency Publicis Indianapolis) said, is because many Pacers fans in this “conservative market” don’t identify with the “hip-hop” culture some in the NBA have cultivated in recent years.
Redefining the team and moving back to profitability is a game of colors.
The Pacers believe that to get out of the red in their ledger, they need more ‘white’ on the court.
90 Responses to “Indiana Pacers Season Preview”
Oct.19 at 12:09 pm
mutoni says:
sir, that is racist!
Oct.19 at 12:10 pm
Payne-o says:
I’m sure that this will generate an interesting discussion. See Jack McCallum’s article currently on SI.com for further (indirectly related) reading.
Oct.19 at 12:17 pm
Jeronimo says:
How is this a season preview?
Oct.19 at 12:21 pm
Topher says:
Good question Jeronimo.
Oct.19 at 12:23 pm
Myung says:
This one has shades of “sports radio” all over it. You know, just throwing something out there to garner reaction.
Oct.19 at 12:24 pm
Myung says:
There’s a Hawks billboard near my workplace that says, “Changing Perceptions.” It has Marvin Williams on it. I don’t think it means the Hawks are trying to be blacker.
Oct.19 at 12:24 pm
Bryan says:
This wasn’t very in depth.
Oct.19 at 12:31 pm
Myung says:
As an Asian sports fan, especially one who lives in Atlanta (a city that is as racially divided as any in America), I constantly hear the “black” perspective as well as the “white” perspective, when it comes to sports (see: Vick, Michael). I get so sick of the race card from both sides of the table, and as someone who’s neither white nor black, it’s nonsense. Racism isn’t dead, but NOT everythin is about race. We all know JO and Danny Granger are the two most important players on the Pacers roster. I’ve read some really solid team previews on this site in the past weeks, but this one just makes me feel bad for Pacers fans because their team didn’t get one.
Oct.19 at 12:32 pm
bobby stew says:
Watch out for Travis Diener, the kid’s got game
Oct.19 at 12:34 pm
Ken says:
Yeah, the content was pretty lacking here. And there are lots of errors that a copy editor would have caught.
Oct.19 at 12:35 pm
Jared says:
anybody remember wen lil dun was the 3rd overall pick in the draft? was he the worst 3rd overall ever? I think Raef and D-Miles give him a run but I don’t kno…poor funny face
Oct.19 at 12:39 pm
Jared says:
Yea, I think there are more stories here than racism…I don’t think its racist that the Pacers, much like the Blazers, are trying to rid their image that their players are trouble makers (see Tinsley, Whooo, and Ron Ron), not so much that their fan base can’t identify with the demographic of the team. The fans didn’t have a problem with the demographic of this team a few years ago when they were pushing for an Eastern Conference Title…
Oct.19 at 12:44 pm
H to the izzo says:
Has the whole “How is this a preview?” question been answered yet?Cause I’d like to know.
And I agree with Myung
Oct.19 at 12:44 pm
Myles Brown says:
White people are better than black folks. Any Nobel Prize winner could tell you that. It’s an improvement!
Oct.19 at 12:49 pm
Myung says:
Izzo, I wish I had written “The Hawks will make the playoffs” somewhere up there, so that I could cut and paste your quote you and proclaim, “Look! Izzo just said, ‘And I agree with Myung.’” =)
Oct.19 at 12:54 pm
Hisham says:
Part 2 coming up? with the actual preview i hope? i hope you guys don’t take this the wrong way, but seeing who wrote this “preview” kind of confirms certain stereotypes. and that sucks
Oct.19 at 12:54 pm
The Tree says:
I second H, where did the preview come in? Everybody knows we’re rebuilding. And as far as the race card, pleaase. I’m with Myung. Indiana people didn’t get sick of a “black” team, we got sick of a team that played without pride and were no fun to watch at points.
Oct.19 at 12:57 pm
H to the izzo says:
Myung:I would have asked for a puff if that had been the case.
Myles:I believe what Professor sh*thead said white people are smarter than black.I had a loong discussion with a guy yesterday about it,we were argueing yet agreeing with each other,no to get too off topic or anything.
Oct.19 at 1:01 pm
Jared says:
Hisham I stayed away from it…
Oct.19 at 1:12 pm
Gilbert0 says:
seriously, why was this posted? weak.
Oct.19 at 1:15 pm
hbomb says:
weak possssssssst. haha
Oct.19 at 1:39 pm
Hisham says:
Hbomb is my halo nickname
Oct.19 at 1:44 pm
Lz - Cphfinest3 says:
This was the worst piece of sh1t ever posted on Slam-online.. Shame on you.. Preview-what??
Oct.19 at 1:46 pm
Raynman says:
no previews for 2, 3 days and this is what we get…
Oct.19 at 2:00 pm
jbn74sb says:
THe preview, as posted, is certainly part of the Pacers story. However, to present it as if it were the entire story is weak.
Oct.19 at 2:01 pm
Hisham says:
That’s why i propose a part 2. Are you a D.A. yet?
Oct.19 at 2:06 pm
John E. Sanford says:
This is a tough team to preview. They are a have a very non-descript squad, and they are gonna suck this year.
Oct.19 at 2:06 pm
Hoop Dreamz says:
So… anyone care to guess how many games these guys might win? Or whether they’ll make the playoffs or not? Or who’s on their team this year?
Oct.19 at 2:10 pm
Hoop Dreamz says:
since all that wasn’t in the preview I mean… and like bodie said, this info should be in the preview and like Hisham said i vote for a part 2……. except that the Pacers don’t deserve a two-parter
Oct.19 at 2:10 pm
Myung says:
1. 32 games
2. No playoffs
3. According to what I just read, it’s just a bunch of do-good white boys.
Oct.19 at 2:11 pm
IRS says:
“except that the Pacers don’t deserve a two-parter ” and maybe the didn’t deserve a one parter….and that is why this was up ….
Oct.19 at 2:12 pm
jbn74sb says:
Hisham - Still writing my autobiography, aka filling out the background check.
Oct.19 at 2:13 pm
mike hender says:
i’ll say this…..the content at the author’s site is OFF THE WALL. wow.
Oct.19 at 2:44 pm
white hot eboy says:
I feel like I wasted 2 hours writing my portion of the Heat preview. Damn….
Oct.19 at 2:59 pm
jbn74sb says:
eboy - Huge difference. Yours was good, and the work was appreciated. Now as for your team…
Oct.19 at 3:08 pm
white hot eboy says:
The D.A speaks. BTW, as you’re filling out your backround check, do you indulge the review board with your “personal” relationship with Lou Pearlman when you were trying out for the last spot in N’SYNC 10 years ago? Or does “he pushed my seat in for me” not count as a recreational activity?
Oct.19 at 3:53 pm
jbn74sb says:
It was a professional activity, as large sums of money exhanged hands. I don’t give up for free. Well, except to Kobe maybe.
Oct.19 at 3:59 pm
jbn74sb says:
it.
Oct.19 at 4:02 pm
Jordi Scrubbings says:
Knowing the previous work of the NOIS, this seems so restrained.
Oct.19 at 5:54 pm
Jukai says:
White people play in the NBA???
Oct.19 at 6:31 pm
BETCATS says:
White people still play basketball? time to go question a white person and see if thats true….
Oct.19 at 6:51 pm
jbn74sb says:
BETCATS - 4 days a week.
Oct.19 at 7:35 pm
white hot eboy says:
BET, 5 days, only not while vacationing. Amazing, right!!!
Oct.19 at 8:57 pm
BETCATS says:
I feel like mr. columbus day himself for i have just discovered something
Oct.19 at 9:04 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
If the Pacers just want to be white and don’t care about winning, the Kings should offer Brad Miller straight up for Jermaine O’Neal. They’d jump at it, right?
Oct.19 at 9:09 pm
Rob Paxon says:
As (un)interesting as this whole debate is… even though the players are undoubtedly unendowed, slave-driving, double-left-footed, soulless crackerjacks, they probably still deserve a preview of their season.
Oct.19 at 9:41 pm
Rob Paxon says:
Hmm, that just took me 15 minutes to write and it just disappeared when I hit post… guess it was too long. Long story short, sans tongue-in-cheek comments… if the goal is to downgrade talent or on/off-court problem players and upgrade effort… how is that automatically looking to bring in whites over blacks? That is a ridiculously racist perspective and the only supporting evidence seems to be that they happened to get rid of some black players and one of them happened to be a crazy motherpuncher named Stack Jack who happened to be black and they happened to get back a hustling marginally talented guy who happened to be the son of a prominent coach who happens to be white. They have a bunch of white players. I don’t see anything overt here. Why isn’t Don Nelson being accused of trying to black up his team? If Indiana is trying to assemble the whitest team since the Aryan Games, how isn’t it that Don Nelson isn’t similarly trying to assemble the gangster-ist (oops… I mean blackest! my bad) team since the 1974 San Quentin-Pelican State Yard Championships? How does that one not go both ways. Please. Fact is, Indiana really does have image concerns to worry about that they have a genuine right and concern to try to correct. They’re probably not doing it the right way and are basing decisions too much on that and not enough on pure basketball… they got it bad on the trade with Golden State. That’s the gist of what I had typed up without getting into some of the peripheral points. I admittedly haven’t exactly been hawk-eying this story so if I’m missing a fact that screams of overt “whitewashing” fill me in… and if there were any major overtly crackifying roster moves besides the GS one (which frankly wasn’t any such thing, just a “Please take Stephen Jackson out of our state” move), I don’t recall.
Oct.19 at 9:49 pm
Rob Paxon says:
Also to Myung, regarding your first comment… you’re completely on the ball. The race card is so overplayed in the sports media to sensationalize it’s almost laughable. While true racism is alive (and always will be), a large part of it is being perpetuated by supposed do-wellers such as media, politicians, advocacy groups, etc by constantly bringing up race at every juncture. Almost every group that brings up the racial aspect of a topic does so solely from a single race’s perspective in the “best interests” of solely that race. It’s a form of racism itself, often makes racist assumptions of both races in the equation, and further promotes racial polarization. Sometimes it is better to just be above something than it is to make a huge deal out of it… such minute cases often push, prod, and irritate moderate, average constituents of races to the point where they become more hostile, at least intellectually (for the lack of a better term) towards the other race in the equation. Case in point: Al Sharpton’s career.
Oct.19 at 11:56 pm
mcnugget says:
Im not a pacer fan, and i really actually dont care about the pacers…… but, here goes: For some reason I think the Pacers under Jim Obrien could be a playoff team, but a lot of things are vital to that happening. It all hinges on Jermaine Oneal being healthy this year, he is the near perfect 5/big/anchor for Obriens system, I could see him being Defensive player of the year, and definitely will put up 20/10 again with a good 3 dimes and 3 blocks a night. This is where the If’s come in besides a healthy oneal though, and all this needs to happen: Danny Granger breaking out to the legit 2nd option for the pacers as their starting small forward, Jamal Tinsley being healthy all season (Good pg for Obie’s system), and Marquis Daniels as the starting 2guard (or maybe Kareem Rush instead) and healthy, because Dunleavy is NOT that, but could be productive off the bench for them. Thats all my opinion, if that happens then the pacers could bounce back big this year under their new coach with 40-45 wins.
Oct.20 at 12:37 am
Kayce Online says:
who decides who writes previews?! :/
Oct.20 at 5:36 am
David says:
Pacer Preview part 2: They will lose many games and in the off-season realise that they needed to start re-building a few years ago (after Isiah was fired) when Artest became completely unreliable. Jermaine O’neal may have some good games this year but nothing amazing. Do you think Bird will ever coach again? The team did all right under him.
Oct.20 at 9:14 am
h-town nick says:
I don’t think looking for a “clean” image is inherently racist (the guy they traded for said white boys was, to be fair, known for firing a pistol in the air after being hit by a car outside of a strip club and attacking fans…and i love stack jack…but that’s not the image most teams are going for.). Does the Pacers front office have a racial bias in determining who a “good character” player is? Probably. Does that constitute a preview? No. What about Ike Diogu (who most pacers folk seem to think has the most potential of anyone on the squad…and was also in the white boy trade)? What about their chances, potential further trades, etc? Myung is right…this piece interesting as a lens to view the pacers through, but to shut down discussion of the team itself in favor of an eminently debateable argument seems silly….why not have both?
Oct.20 at 9:52 am
H to the izzo says:
Sirs,your insolent proclamations shall only enumerate further ammunition to the conflagration of our righteous cause.
Oct.20 at 10:08 am
Joel O's says:
Erm… what? To summarize article: Pacers’ domestic consumer market is seen as “white & conservative”. In order to be “profitable”, they need to draw fan, and they can only do so by getting “whiter” - ie. by signing more hard working, team-oriented but mediocre “white” guys?
Oct.20 at 10:12 am
Joel O's says:
I’m sorry to say this, but this is bull$hit. The great Pacer fans of the ’90s weren’t “white”: the only 2 white guys on that team who mattered were Mullin and Smits. But the city embraced the team because it was a pretty damn amazing basketball squad. And that’s what the Pacers have to do, rebuild a good team and the city will embrace it.
Oct.20 at 10:13 am
Joel O's says:
correction: Pacer TEAMS, not fans
Oct.20 at 10:16 am
BETCATS says:
Joel you are “white” get it i used a race to take the place of the word white….. ha ha ha i think i just peed myself
Oct.20 at 10:16 am
BETCATS says:
and joel you must remember one of those ‘embrassing’ fans set Reggie Miller’s house on fire
Oct.20 at 10:18 am
H to the izzo says:
Joel:Go to the NOIS blog itself and look at any reply to a comment that the site has ever made,in a better than you type way.I was simply parodying
Oct.20 at 10:23 am
Joel O's says:
@ BETCATS: Uhh, I’m Chinese.
Oct.20 at 10:24 am
Joel O's says:
Hmm, Izzo?
Oct.20 at 10:29 am
Joel O's says:
What I’m saying is this: The Pacers teams of the 90’s were well loved, not because of race, but because they were an exciting and unique team built around the pure finesse of its major players - Reggie, Mullin, Smits & Mark Jackson. Every basketball fan, me included, will support a home team that brings us deep into the playoffs - it gives us hope and gives us something to root for, to cheer for. To suggest otherwise, to suggest that fans support basketball teams based on their own racial bias or preference - that itself borders on racism.
Oct.20 at 11:03 am
Joel O's says:
Oh… My initial post wasn’t responding to your comment Izzo, it was in response to the piece.
Oct.20 at 11:15 am
H to the izzo says:
My mistake,Joel.
Oct.20 at 12:55 pm
Thugleavy34 says:
Lil Dun hustles? That’s just white perception in itself. If he was black people would see him for what he is—the SOB is lazier than Mike Sweetney.
Oct.20 at 3:50 pm
Jukai says:
So no member of Slam has posted an explanation here yet?
Oct.20 at 8:45 pm
BETCATS says:
Joel, your white if i say you are (but for the record i never did, i just implied it)
Oct.20 at 9:01 pm
davidR says:
even though you guys didn’t write it, i’m a little disappointed you guys decided to post it up the way it is. im hoping you guys don’t make the same mistake in the future
Oct.20 at 9:07 pm
Z says:
Indiana having white guys and G State having a bunch of black guys is not an issue. Saying that white guys hustle and play the right way and black guys freelance and have criminal records, is. I mean besides Jax, where are the thugs in GS? Al? BDiddy? Pietrus? Barnes? O’Bryant… gimme a f’ing break
Oct.20 at 9:08 pm
Z says:
@ Thugleavy34: what he said. Dun don’t hustle. Period.
Oct.20 at 9:09 pm
Z says:
I know I just triple-posted and should get banned for this, but: that preview was not a preview and was very cliché and shallow.
Oct.20 at 9:09 pm
Joel O's says:
@BETCATS: I’m sorry to if I seem to have offended you, or given you the impression that I was pretending to be of a different race than I am, or whatever you may have misunderstood. I’m Chinese, I grew up learning English as my first language, and I’ve moved around here and there. However, I do believe that you’ve missed my point, or you wouldn’t have felt the need to take a jab or two at my racial background.
Oct.20 at 9:15 pm
Joel O's says:
Irregardless, I think everyone here can agree to one thing: we came here hoping for a team preview like many of the other brilliantly written ones before it, and were instead treated to NOIS’s silly attempt to misuse SLAM as a platform to spew racial generalizations and needlessly provocative rhetoric.
Oct.20 at 9:18 pm
Joel O's says:
@Izzo: It’s all good. I was just looking forward to at least SOME insight on how the Pacers’ BASKETBALL prospects are this season, especially since I barely get a chance to see what once was one of my favourite teams, back in the day of Reggie and Mark Jackson.
Oct.21 at 1:23 am
Thugleavy34 says:
I didn’t come here hoping for a team preview, I just wanted to laugh at Troy and lil Dun.
Oct.21 at 4:16 am
Jukai says:
This really should be taken down. The Slam columists and writers are avoiding this like the plague.
Oct.21 at 4:16 am
Jukai says:
By the way, I bet White Hot Eboy LOVES this thread.
Oct.21 at 8:40 am
white hot eboy says:
Shame, Shame, Jukai, everyone knows your name……..is mud.
Oct.21 at 1:44 pm
Slim says:
Very weak post. Where’s Tarzan when you need him?
Oct.21 at 1:49 pm
anti-q says:
i’m with mike, the NOI sportsblog is on the one. As far as the review, the shoe fits. Thugleavy34 already said it Lil Dun got no hustle. word.
Oct.21 at 4:53 pm
BETCATS says:
Joel = takes shi+ too serously (it was a joke kinda like yao ming)
Oct.21 at 7:04 pm
TMoney says:
The Indiana Pacers are the most irrelevant team in the NBA.
Oct.21 at 10:11 pm
vmcb says:
it’s from the nation of islam sportsblog.
Oct.21 at 11:27 pm
Jukai says:
Thanks Sherlock
Oct.22 at 1:57 am
Joel O's says:
Domo arigato, BETCATS-san.
Oct.22 at 10:26 am
BETCATS says:
ching chong to you too
Oct.22 at 10:47 am
maclovenotwar says:
how about Jermaine O’Neal for Shelden Williams (or Marvin), Josh Childress, Speedy Claxton and Lorenzen Wright?
Oct.22 at 10:57 am
BETCATS says:
how about NO
Oct.22 at 12:45 pm
poopdiggity says:
although the technical aspects of the preview were not apparent, all in all. it summed things up acurrately. it’s a boring team in transition trying to bring back there boring transitional fans. any further commentary would only make it more boring.
Oct.22 at 4:59 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
danny granger, there at least someone mentioned him in a SEASON PREVIEW!!!